Antique, Reclaimed Barn Oak Bread Board Table and Benches featured in the Outdoor Living Room at the Handmade in America's Show Home at The Ramble in Asheville, NC

Gum Ridge Mill & Flying Pig Furniture’s Handcrafted and Reclaimed Table and Benches Featured at theHandMade House at The Ramble

A unique design experiment is underway in the mountains of Western North Carolina. The HandMade House at the Ramble in Asheville, NC debuts as a Show Home this month and it provides a guide for developers and builders interested in integrating the best of regional art with the best of regional design and construction. The House will be on display October 11 - November 9, 2008

High Country based business Gum Ridge Mill & Flying Pig Furniture has been chosen as one of the artists who are collaborating on this project. “We are extremely excited about having our reclaimed wood products placed in this unique home and project” says owner Ken Sevensky. “Gum Ridge Mill & Flying Pig Furniture is all about the character of the North Carolina Mountains and our vision fits perfectly with the HandMade House at the Ramble.” Gum Ridge Mill has created the focal point for the covered porch – a beautiful antique barn oak bread board table with locust post legs and matching benches.

The partners in this year-long effort were HandMade in America, the Asheville-based non-profit representing artists and crafts people, and Biltmore Farms, LLC, developer of The Ramble Biltmore Forest. During the summer of 2007, they invited some 100 North Carolina artists representing a broad variety of approaches to fine arts and handcrafts ed to incorporate their work into the design of a custom home in Biltmore Farms’ Ramble development in South Asheville.

“We had great hopes for the potential of this partnership from the very beginning,” says Becky Anderson, executive director of HandMade in America. “But we are already outracing our expectations. And this is only the beginning.”

Jack Cecil, president and CEO of Biltmore Farms, LLC, says, “We’re pleased to be partners in what could be a model for other developers and builders. It’s something Becky and I have talked about for years.”

In its debut as a Show Home in 2008, the House not only exemplifies powerful Western North Carolina artistic and architectural traditions, it also meets the green building standards of North Carolina’s HealthyBuilt Homes program. (www.healthybuilthomes.org). The partners have published a handbook to guide other developers and builders interested in creating similar HandMade Houses. The bottom line: The arts community gets increased visibility and credibility in the “real world” of real estate professionals; builders separate themselves from the pack; and the quality of life of the whole region is enhanced.

Gum Ridge Mill also has several sets of admission tickets to the Ramble HandMade House project – please contact them if you are interested in visiting the Show House. To learn more about Gum Ridge Mill & Flying Pig Furniture: www.gumridgemill.com and to learn more about the Handmade house at the Ramblewww.handmadeinamerica.org.